Page 75 of What He Always Knew

There were others around us watching, including Mr. Henderson and his wife, and Cameron glanced at them with a forced smile of his own as he took a step back from Charlie, offering me her hand.

“Of course not,” he said, loud enough for those around us to hear. “I’ll refresh our drinks.”

But before he stepped away, Cameron clapped his hand hard on my shoulder, squeezing with enough force to make me wince as he leaned in.

“Keep your fucking hands to yourself, Walker.”

“Well, I’ve got to put my hands on her to dance with her, don’t I, Cam?”

I smiled even wider, clapping his shoulder in return before I ripped away from his hold and pulled Charlie into my arms. I watched as she and Cameron exchanged a look, and once he’d gone, her eyes found mine.

“Hi,” I said, the first real smile of the evening settling on my lips.

Her brows pinched together at first, but then they smoothed, and she shook her head with a small smile of her own.

“Hi.”

“You look incredible tonight,” I said, shaking my head slowly as I took her in. She was even more glammed up than I’d realized from afar, from her makeup to the pearls that rested around her neck. “I mean seriously, how can you blame me for going crazy wanting to hold you in my arms when you look like that?”

“I’m with Cam tonight,” she reminded me, as if I didn’t already know. “Everyone here knows us, Reese. It’s… we have to be careful.”

“What does it matter?” I asked. “Tomorrow marks two months. Everyone is about to know, anyway.”

Charlie’s eyes fell to my tie, and she swallowed.

“Right?” I asked her, tilting her chin up.

She didn’t answer.

“Charlie. Tomorrow is—”

“I know what tomorrow is,” she hissed, glancing over my shoulder. “Okay? I know. But everything is just… complicated right now.”

“What does that mean? What’s complicated now that wasn’t exactly that same way last time I held you?”

“Oh, you mean two nights before you brought Blake to my sister-in-law’s hospital room?”

I pressed my lips flat. “I didn’t have a choice. And you left as soon as we got there, anyway.”

“I wonder why,” she snapped back.

“I’m sorry, okay?” I said, wanting so badly to pull her into me. But there were eyes everywhere, and I had to settle for enough room for Jesus between us as we swayed. “I didn’t want her to come, but she invited herself, and I couldn’t tell hernotto come. She had just come home from seeing her dad in the hospital, and he’sdying, Charlie. He’s dying. I’m the only thing she has to hold onto and I just couldn’t tell her to sit home alone that day we came to the hospital.”

Words were flying out my mouth, but none of them seemed to make Charlie any happier.

“I know you’re mad at me, but she’s temporary — just like your situation with Cameron. We’re going to get past this,” I told her. “All we have to do is make it through tomorrow, and everything will be different.”

Charlie wouldn’t look at me, her lip pinned between her teeth as her eyes skated everywhere but up to mine.

“A lot has changed since then…”

The blood drained from my face, my heart thumping loud in my ears as I tried to keep us dancing. “What the hell does that mean? Are you… are you saying you might stay with him?”

Her eyes snapped up to mine, but she didn’t have a chance to answer before Mr. Henderson’s voice spoke over the fading end of the song.

“Let’s hear a big round of applause for our band this evening, The Ravendoors,” he said, the room breaking into applause as Charlie pulled back from me to clap with them.

My jaw was clenched, my hands clapping a little too hard as I tried to focus on the stage, all the while watching Charlie. I was losing her, or maybe I already had, and I couldn’t let her go back to her table with Cameron — not yet.